At Home on the Road (Warriors 108, Celtics 88)

What do you get when you match-up one of the NBA’s worst offenses with one of its premier defenses? The perfect end to the Warriors’ road trip.

The Boston Celtics aren’t very good — by design, at this point. But the Warriors have struggled against teams of similar stature, particularly when they’ve been on back-to-backs or coming off of big wins. Both factors were in play Wednesday night, but nothing was going to stop the Warriors’ momentum from carrying them home. The Warriors were relentlessly focused in their dismantling of the Celtics. The starters and bench players came in waves, each seemingly taking turns doing what they do best. One minute it was David Lee feasting on the offensive glass, the next minute it was Draymond Green creating chaos on defense. Stephen Curry inflicted pain from the perimeter, then Jermaine O’Neal went to work on the inside. It was the type of veteran win that, when paired with the victory over the Pacers, should hopefully give the Warriors a late-season boost heading into an important stretch of home games against some of their Western playoff peers.

Superlatives would be appropriate for nearly any part of the Warriors’ performance against the Celtics, but two aspects of the team game stood above the rest. First, the Warriors made the most of Boston’s 22 turnovers (many on takeaways) by pushing the tempo for transition buckets. The Warriors’ 25 fast break points and 58 points in the paint are indicative of a team working to get high-percentage looks. Second, when the Warriors did find themselves in more traditional half-court sets, they let their ball movement find the man with the best look at the basket. The passing — seemingly amped up following the harrowing experience of playing against the Pacers’ defense — was crisp, purposeful and deadly. As the ball zipped around the court, the Celtics seemed two steps behind. The Warriors’ 28 assists against only 11 turnovers (only 5 through the first 3 quarters) hint at how efficiently dangerous this team can be if/when they take care of the ball.

Nearly every Warrior had a productive individual night, but three players showed aspects of their games that were particularly encouraging.

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Klay Thompson built upon his game winning night with a relatively efficient 7-15, 18 point performance. Breaking down his shooting numbers, however, tells the full story. Thompson went 1-8 from behind the arc, meaning he was 6-7 from inside it. Klay’s mix of penetration and mid-range jumpers was nearly unstoppable, and a far more diverse attack than we’ve seen from him up until these last few games. Thompson still remains frustratingly inconsistent, but there are signs he’s adapting his game to find ways to become more consistent. If he can regularly get to the rim, it’ll provide a solid foundation for the rest of his offensive game.

David Lee’s work attacking the basket and cleaning up the offensive glass was an accelerant for the Warriors’ hot offense, but what caught my eye was his success on 2 jumpers from the perimeter. Lee had largely abandoned his outside game after losing confidence in his shot earlier this season. Knocking down those looks against the Celtics may not be much, but it’s a hint that Lee may be starting to regain a bit of his offensive repertoire. Even if Lee doesn’t return to the nearly automatic shooting of last season, he can help the Warriors by giving them one more option in the half-court when the defense tightens up.

I’m no medical doctor, but Andre Iguodala’s dislocated finger seems to have done wonders for his tentative hamstring. A night after Iguodala played through a new injury, he appeared to leave behind an old one — attacking the lane and playing above the rim with an explosiveness that has been missing for months. His aggressiveness on offense (9 shots in only 23 minutes) is a welcome sight. With Curry and Thompson spreading defenses with their shooting, there should be lanes available for Iguodala to penetrate. He had been reduced to a spot-up three-point shooter since his earlier injury. If he can get back to running the floor and slashing through the lane, it’ll only do good things for the Warriors’ offense.

Ultimately, while the Celtics didn’t pose much of a challenge for the Warriors, the team won in the most encouraging way possible. This easily could have been a trap game, but the Warriors made it a blowout instead. Their discipline and focus helped squash some of the worries that arose in the final minutes of the Indiana game. What could easily have been a 2-4 road trip filled with frustration and missed opportunities was flipped into to a 4-2 journey and a sense of gathering momentum. Once again, the Warriors have found their identity on the road.

[Programming note: while the Warriors' road trip is ending, mine is beginning. I'll be off for the next few games, but Chris L has kindly volunteered to keep the discussion going.]

Adam Lauridsen

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You are correct, rio. When people discuss the all time great point guards, Payton’s name is often skipped over despite all of the awards, but he belongs in the conversation.

D_Deuce

Lot to pick apart in the post, but in honor of the Steal yer Face logo, I’m comfortably numb.

Zume

Great writing Adam. So appreciate your talents here for getting to the root of the story.

On a side note I loved this discussion of a new player. Our basketball hearts are drawn to this guy. He has it all, length, skill and especially drive, lightening in a bottle. We just can’t spell or pronounce his name – smile.

ESPN’s Henry Abbott and David Thorpe on why the young Buck, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is not just infectiously likable, but also has MVP-grade potential.

The Clippers trying for alley-oops and Blake getting a tech for throwing the ball and complaining after being fouled when they are up by 40, just shows what a classless bottom-feeding team the Clippers really are. I should watch the Lakers and feel only schadenfreude, and yet the Clips made me feel sorry for them. Ugh.

El Topo

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Living in NYC at the time (Knick fan then), I was rooting for the Bullets and knew little about the Warriors, as I hadn’t seen them play and there was little TV in those days. Of course, I was aware Rick Barry was great but the other W’s were basically unknown to me.

One note: Elvin Hayes is hardly ever mentioned when cognoscenti rate the greatest ever PFs. I saw him play many times and think he’s in the conversation with Duncan, Malone, Dirk, McHale, etc. At his best, I think only Duncan betters the Big E.

jsl165

Well, thanks. Look forward to more of your views.

El Topo

Actually, I lived in Sweden in 1975, so never saw that final on TV.

jsl165

Hayes rates special status, if only because he almost single-handedly won the Houston game over Lee Alcindor and UCLA at the Astrodome.

And he’s certainly part of any Best PF conversation.

Peter Moto

some in the national media don’t see Phx finishing in the playoff seeds ; 14 out of their remaining 21 games are on the road. vs. OK last night, they were 15-27 in their 3′s, got to the foul line for 39 attempts and out-rebounded OK 44-33 without their starting center. the two teams could conceivably meet in the first round, but sefalosha’s return probably makes OK even stronger by then. Phx will be one of the tougher contests remaining at home for GS.

Chris L

Amazing synchronicity, Shark—but not unexpected given the power and beauty of Ts’owém (original Salinan name for Cone Peak). Like you say, indeed we will cross paths sometime.

This weekend I’ll be doing trailwork with two VWA friends (you probably know that acronym?) on the old homestead trail between the Dani homestead (where the Hermitage in Lucia is now) and Twitchell Flat (Jane Twitchell was a Dani daughter). I’m a 35 year-long friend of the Hermitage and on its advisory board—and equally a lover/advocate for the wilderness. One of my VWA friends, Mike Heard, is the guy who’s dedicated the past 5 years of his life to restoring the trail system around Cone Peak. Right now—exactly now—he’s doing restoration work on the Stone Ridge trail through Goat Camp. You’ve walked in the tread of Mike’s work. My other friend, Robert—who’s done untold volunteer trailwork himself—has as a personal mission restoring the “Elevator Trail” (I can’t believe that someone else on this W’s board would know that obscure name “Elevator Trail”!)

Every year one of my personal rituals is to do a solo circumambulation of Ts’owém and usually I circumambulate it a second time with a friend or two. I’ve hiked a couple times from “The Indians” (on the San Antonio River inland) to the coast. Eccentric ethnographer John Peabody Harrington made that trip in 1932 with two Salinans—gathering (unpublished) ethnogeographic information all along the way—notes I’ve studied more carefully (and on the ground) than anyone. So, yeah, a “sea to sky hike.”

Did you know that State Parks is currently working on the “Alvin Trail” that leads from the limekilns up to Twitchell Flat?

Another friend and I found and re-opened the Dani-Twitchell Trail years ago—but subsequent fires and downfalls (especially the Basin Fire in 2008) have closed it (not that you can’t scramble over and around the downfalls).

But that’s exactly why I’m doing this trailwork: to open the connection between the Hermitage and Ts’owém again.

SurfCity

Pretty sure the Clips are working out their inferiority complex from sharing the town with the Lakers. As you say, not classy.

Chris L

I’ve told you, right, that Phil and I were friends at USF? And while I broke my leg and “only” played on the frosh and JV teams at USF (without that injury I’d have been touch and go to make the varsity anyway), I played in many pick-up games and practices with Phil. As anyone who ever knew him—or even followed him closely as fan—realized…he was an utter prince of a man.

Still have never seen a more devastating “rocker-step.” (And I was “fortunate” enough to be on the receiving-end of it:)

Chris L

Absolutely.

Chris L

Payton was one of the best defensive guards to ever play the game.

Chris L

No, I haven’t seen them yet. My brother-in-law is a big fan, bought tickets, and didn’t ask us—just told us—that we’re going. So I’m really looking forward to it. I already respect my brother-in-law’s musical aesthetics and tastes—and now you have me even more curious and eager.

SurfCity

G Johnson, Ray and?

jilawsons

Boring is good …

At the start of the season, when we had several large wins at home, I was, frankly, a bit bored. But I had that crazy fanatic thought that we all dream for that we could go all the way, and I was satisfied. Then, as many of you, I was a bit disappointed with some of our team’s subsequent performances. And then, I sought my refuge here to think about what might be wrong and what might be done about it. It’s not that I understand the game well enough to even comment here, but learning a bit more and seeing some useful critical commentary helped me to get through the losses. Thanks for that.

Now, with a few improvements and changes, it is getting easier again to have those crazy thoughts about what our team might be able to do in the playoffs this year. I just have to fight the urge to do what I did last night and skip watching the game after seeing the score (I didn’t want to be bored . I do catch most of the games, but it is admittedly a bit less exciting now that I am no longer a season ticket holder.

So, in part to encourage Chris to be as positive as possible in his sure to be interesting take on the next few games, in part to encourage the rest of you to smell the roses, and mostly, to psyche myself up for the interesting ride ahead in the next couple of months, I offer you the following perspectives.

Just pretend that Mark Jackson was trying to hide our best offensive strategy and efforts until the playoffs so that, like they apparently do more consciously in the NFL, the other defenses have less time to plan for our unbeatable new schemes.

Appreciate the obvious: that this is the best team the Warriors have assembled in a very long time. And, yes, the ownership, management, and even the coaching is far superior to anything they’ve had in my short tenure as a W’s fan (about 8 years now). When’s the last time you trusted the Warrior’s GM (as most of us apparently do now)?

Accept the not so obvious: it may be very hard to assemble a better team for a long time to come. So, enjoy what you have while it lasts.

Be amazed at the defense. As a basketball dummy, I can’t appreciate much of what has happened here, but credit these almost unassailable facts: three individuals deserve the lions share of the credit for this: AI, MJax, and AB. I would have bet anyone good money as recently as a year ago that we could never be doing as well as our defensive stats indicate this year. And remember, it was not that long ago that we had a coach that said he didn’t coach defense (I still can’t believe Mr. Nelson had the gall to say that).

Marvel at the fact that we have a nationally recognized star on the team who is a joy to watch. I tend to be a bit cynical about how Mr. Curry seemed to suddenly rise from the underappreciated anchor of our team to his current national fame (I suspect there are interesting emails at the league office that give more perspective on how they anoint new stars). But guess what, he earned it. Steph, like so many of our players, manages to improve his game year after year in unexpected ways.

And, finally, embrace the fact that this is really a team effort. That’s a credit to both the players and coaches. As we’ve heard in so many comments from the players, the level of camaraderie and selflessness exhibited by this team is rare (if not unique) in today’s NBA.

If you made it this far: thanks for listening. I hope I was able to return the favor of the many smiles you all have given me over the years here.

NCDub

Havn’t read down yet (up?) but have two comments-
I usually like (not love) Fitz but was dumbfounded at his “never heard of that (repeatedly!) to JB’s “one game at a time”. If I was not dreaming then such ignorance in the booth is unbelievable–Wow…
Also on KT (my favorite Dub & project)–he’s really getting better & as JB has said repeatedly–when he drives & doesn’t force his shots from downtown & let’s the game come to him he’s star potential. He’s moving toward the hoop more when he’s open (or almost open) instead of falling back for 3′s. Such a positive to see him working hard on his game–he’s MUCH harder to stop when he’s not so predictable. I’m liking what I’m seeing. Perhaps it’s TheLogo (who loves Klay) finally getting through–also might be his Dad. Kudos deserved all round…
PS–I’m beginning to feel that there will be no rings with Bogut, Lee, Iggy of the good but ageing Dubs. It’ll be the core IMO (Steph, Klay, Harrison, Green, Festus + other NewDubs who will get to wear them. Meanwhile it’ll be great fun to observe these InterimDubs while anticipating the ChampionshipDubs. No offense–just GrampaTom’s viewpoints. We do have a 2nd. round team given continued development of these current Dub playersas a team interacting well together. I’m also getting more sanguine with JAX being the RingCoach as he develops too.

NCDub

RW
Still like Nellie’s body of work as you all know, but I’m coming around on JAX as you’ve stated. Nice post.

NCDub

Knickerbocker
Liked your post a lot, except for the silly comments on Andrew & Klay. Stick around ’cause I continue to appreciate your good stuff, when it’s there. Kudos friend.

NCDub

twr
Can’t agree–Steph rested a lot as I saw it. He then ruled on the bench like the class player he is. No offense though my friend.

NCDub

twr
Can’t agree with you here as well nor did I like Adam’s Pacer comments. Much too negative IMV.
A W IS a W…OTR makes it especially nice…in Indiana to boot
Too many perceptions here at times–why not just accept the improvement, no more underachieving & see that there will be no rings this year no matter what. They’re coming though.
More smile & no offense again friend. Just agreeing to disagree.

Bryan Hsiao

Olynik did not match up against Bogut the whole game. He was guarded by JON and Lee.
Also he plays on the perimeter as a stretch 4.
What’s your freaking point?

If only it were not the Kias who did the spanking…What is it about LA that makes their basketball teams detestable?

El Topo

Thanks for bringing some perspective to the blog. Often, many of us focus too much on game-to-game events and so lose sight of what has been achieved. Also, most of us being homers, we our expectations tens to be on the high side.

El Topo

Must disagree, Tom. IMO, they all have at least 3 good years left.

Bogut is 29, Lee and Iguodala 30. They are entering their peak years if they can stay healthy and motivated. For example, Nash won 2 MVPs at 30 and 31, Duncan still strong at 37, Kareem finals MVP at 37, and so on.

Our Team

Agreed. Clippers seem classless. I don’t totally get it bc I like Rivers and CP3 but the LA gig seems to have brought out the worst in them. Their attitude in the Warriors games has been almost laughably hypocritical and classless. Easy team to root against.

Richard Andersen

After the last few wins, it’s becoming pretty clear what the warriors’ formula for success is:

Play great defense
+ Take care of the ball (less than 15 turnovers)
+ Good body and ball movement (been much better recently)
+ Attack the hoop aggressively instead of just settling for perimeter shots: applies especially to Klay, Iggy, and Barnes (been much better in this recently too, especially Klay)
+ Don’t rely too much on Curry; keep everyone involved in the offense
+ Get good bench mob play (much better recently also), at least maintaining/not losing leads

If they do poorly in one or two of these areas, they’re likely going to lose to a good team. If they do poorly in two or more, they could lose to anyone. If they do pretty well in all these areas, they can beat anyone.

What do y’all think? Have I left anything important off the list?

The fact that they’re doing better in all of these areas lately is very encouraging for the future, and saves Mjax’s job for now as far as I’m concerned. Don’t think it’s an accident that body and ball movement has improved after acquiring Blake. I think his example helps even when he’s not on the floor. Baze is still doing great with the Lakers and I wish we still had him, but they had to make that deal.

NCDub

ET
Hope you are correct. Great points all.
Perhaps I was merely com m enting on so much of the “we can do it this year” stuff we see here. I agree that optimism is, as I age, seen by me as one of the most important traits. Sometimes the practical piece gets a tiny bit in my way.
An

earl monroe

I think Steph is going to go off tonight, he may want to wipe off the bad taste of the last game

El Topo

Interesting week coming up after tonight’s game.
I think it will define where Dubs stand in relation to other top WC teams.

Should we go unscathed or at least 4-1 those 8 days, then Dubs may yet win 55.

El Topo

Looking forward to the Clippers game on Wednesday. Hope Lakers fans come out and root for Dubs. Want to see a Bogut-Griffin battle once again. Last game Paul was missing, so that helped us to a lopsided win. This time, both teams at strength.

Mopedelic

If he has almost never used O’Neal/Green instead of Bogut/Lee to finish games, how do we know it is a winning combination?

knick

Learn to read b4 responding. I never said Bogut defended Olynik. He scored 19pts, regardless of who defended him. Tells you its doable.

knick

GranpaTom, Bogut hasn’t scored more than 4pts last couple of games. I’m just stating the obvious.

knick

Since when did calling someone stupid become civil?

Believewhat

Olynik scored most of the pts in garbage minutes against Speights. Is he a young Scola ?

JanG

Good points. A few things you missed:
1. Finish at the rim with either a dunk or foul.
2. Shoot open 3′s and hope the hell they go in!
3. Stay healthy!
4. Keep passport in obvious place.

rio kid

He is going to be good. What a wingspan on that kid

JanG

I’m beginning to believe that the W’s have the potential for going all the way this year. Really, how far-fetched is it? Well, we’ve beaten the best teams in the league, some on their home courts, or are competitive til the last shot of the game. We’ve strengthened the bench to the point where the bench actually increases the leads. We’ve managed to remain relatively healthy, particularly to our key players. In the past few games we’ve seen some offensive life from HB, Dre, Blake, JON, and even JC. JON is getting more minutes (at the expense of MS) and gives us some low post scoring. Our defense is among the best in the NBA, crucial for a playoff run. Curry has a capable backup and hopefully will be fresh for the post-season. And the turnovers have gone down.

Some tweaks in the offense such as reducing turnovers, hitting foul shots, or making layups could have spelled the difference in at least 5 games this season. We should fear no team and my belief is actually that many teams fear us. With the potential of raining threes, playing good defense with Dre and Dray taking on top scorers, and having an inside tough presence with Bogut manning the middle, this team is poised for great things. I believe…

JanG

Does he need to score for the W’s to win? Just asking the obvious.

Jeff

ENTERING their peak years? peak years in the NBA usually come around 26-27 and that’s for those without significant injuries. bogut with his many freak accidents and somehow iggy hurt his hamstring, when he’s been one of the most durable players in the NBA for quite some time. Lee was definitely better last year, at least capable of hitting midrange jumpers, nowadays not so much. You can easily tell Bogut was at his peak back in Milwaukee when he was perhaps the #2 or even #1 center in the league when they made a playoff run. Iggy was probably at his best running with the denver system and now he just looks lost in a miserable golden state offensive scheme. Obviously the injury is still holding him back.

It will be more of the young guys that need to step up, rather than hoping the vets are at their peak performance level. The question is, who can we afford to keep? We have commited +$10M to Curry, Lee, Iggy, and Bogut for the next 3 years i believe, which leaves us pretty cash strapped as far as being able to sign Klay and/or Barnes.

Nash is an anomaly as he’s is already 40 years old and still playin in the NBA, that doesnt happen often which is why he’s injured all the time now. He won MVP in his early 30s because 1. he didn’t come out early and 2. he works on his conditioning tremendously in the offseason. I believe Duncan went to Wake 4 years as well.

Believewhat

Good one Richard. Couple more observations, warriors are running more after the rebound especially Dre and Klay. Warriors are #3 in rebounding because all the five stay back and rebound but lately I am seeing that Dre and Klay mostly are leaking to open floor kind of how Miami does. Miami is #29 in rebounding but when they get that rebound, they make it count. Warriors need to do this more often even if it makes moves them from #2 to #10 in rebounding. Others:

* More ball handling by Dre
* Quicker subs by coach
* Don’t play Speights
* More 2nd half minutes to Draymond
* One starter with the bench(coach did this except for garbage mins last game)
* Come out aggressive

Believewhat

Peak years are different for each player, and 32 now is new 27 these days.

dr_john

This is a tough love lesson for Speights. He needs to improve his game to be a real contributor (I said this about Baze also).

I still think he could get there but sure don’t want the Warriors to depend on it. Mareese and Festus kinda has a nice ring to it—next year.

Jeff

there’s a saying that goes you don’t want to be on the wrong side of 30, and in the NBA, it holds true. think about it, most players have been comin into the league 18,19,20 years old. so you really think they’d peak after 12-14 years of playin in the fast-paced, uber-athletic NBA nowadays? With so many injuries, players will be lucky to even play for 12-14 years, much less be at their peak. Look up anywhere and it’ll mention peak ages at 27-30, and if anything, some peak earlier at 25, for those who rely solely on athleticism. And yea, you can’t honestly believewhat (see what i did there), that adding 5 years is the right number. i’m not going to go look up players to back up my claim, the general consensus is 27-30.